Pinterest Challenge

This is my first link party...thing. I usually never participate in all of the many fun blog things that I see every day, but this one really appeals to me. For the Pinterest Challenge, we pick six pins to do over the next six weeks. I have so many early pins that I just can't find an excuse to do, so here are my choices! By the way, I think six weeks ends on April 2nd. I better get working!

1. This outfit is pretty simple, but it has jewelry! I want to learn to accessorize better.
2. I've pinned several recipes for chewy granola bars because I love them so much. It's about time I actually made them.
3. Deep cleaning schedule- I'd love to get in an actual routine for cleaning and doing the deep stuff a few times a year.
4. The waterfall braid- I've wanted to do this ever since I first saw this braid, but I've never spent the time to actually research and try it.
5. I currently have 5 Martinelli bottles...just hanging out in my closet. Maybe I can turn them into something I'd actually like to have around the house.
6. I'm most scared for this pin- refrigerator oatmeal. Sometimes it sounds so delicious, and sometime I get kind of grossed out by the thought of cold oatmeal. I guess we'll see what I actually think after making it!

So there it goes. Six pins in six weeks. I'm super excited!

February Catch Up

Hi blog, you still exist? It seems like forever since I last posted- and it has been a few weeks, but not actually that long. I guess my life has been filed up with other things this past month, but I honestly couldn't tell you what exactly. I haven't been too busy with work or church...or maybe I have. I think I've been too busy living life to remember to take pictures of any of it- which is fine with me because it means I'm having a fun, busy life! But here are some things I've been up to, just to document the craftiness and such. :)

Cinnamon Rolls
This wasn't really a planned dessert, but we decided we definitely needed cinnamon rolls one Friday night. I didn't feel like using yeast and slaving away in the kitchen for hours (who are we kidding, I love slaving in the kitchen!), so I used a non-yeast recipe. They were pretty good! Different, and not quite as good in my opinion, but well worth it for just a half hour recipe instead of several hours.The recipe is from Iowa Girl Eats, and I just made a half batch.

I apparently never took a frosted picture. Sorry!

Valentine's Day
Continuing with tradition, I made steak! Last year's Valentine's steak was....not that great. I can't even remember what went wrong, but knowing me I probably over cooked it, under seasoned it, and bought a very cheap cut of steak. So this year, I did quite a bit of research, and thanks to recommendations from many people, bought a rib-eye steak (well...for him. For me, still just a cheap cut!). I seasoned them with A-1 rub (which wasn't my very favorite, but it was super easy to have it pre-made), and then I cooked them on the stove. They were great! Done to perfection and very tender. I was so pleased. Maybe someday we'll even have a grill and we can do this more often.

We also had this fudge chocolate cake. It was quite delicious, and it got even better over the next few days as the glaze sunk into the chocolate cake. I didn't have cream for a true ganache, so I used a recipe that included regular milk with butter- and it was great! The one layer of cake was just the perfect amount, and it was very fudgy.

I also apparently never took a frosted picture of this cake. Sorry again!

Recovering Kitchen Chairs
I have wanted to recover our kitchen chairs ever since we got them- they were not that cushiony to begin with, and they were a boring white fabric that usually looked dirty. I've been researching and planning for many months, and I finally did it! I bought the foam (foam is ex-pen-sive. It makes me super sad) and fabric a few weeks ago. Then, we just needed a staple gun! I bought that this past weekend, and got to work on the chairs. I was amazed at how fast they went- like 15 minutes per chair or less! Of course...they're definitely not perfect, and so I kind of regret doing them so fast. But it's nice to have them finished and so pretty and so cushiony!

I was surprised how easy the foam was to cut. But also, that's why mine look kind of messy- I didn't think that having straight lines on the foam would matter, but it really did. You can tell where my foam was curvy or jaggedy. Also, I didn't have quite enough fabric. Because of this, I had to cut my pieces smaller than I wanted, and I had to stretch to get the fabric wrapped around and stapled. So some chairs have edges that are pulled more tightly than I like. But hey...they're done!!!!!